Robots that mimic ivy vines can grow thousands of times their original lengths at speeds faster than the average person can run, a new study finds. The new soft, flexible robots could one day be used in tight situations, such as to slither through rubble or snake inside the human body... The newly developed robot is made of soft, flexible polyethylene, the most common plastic in the world. It grows from its tip via internal air pressure, which pushes plastic tubing stored at its base up through the core of its body. The robot is initially about 11 inches (28...

Google-owned robotics firm and “nightmare” factory Boston Dynamics has released video of its latest creation: a two-wheeled, four-legged hybrid robot named Handle. The robot can stand on four legs, like Boston Dynamics’ previous creations such as BigDog and Spot. But at the end of its back two legs are two stabilised wheels, which let it stand up vertically and roll around at speeds of up to nine miles per hour. Think “Terminator riding on a hoverboard” and you’ll have a pretty good idea of the impression Handle gives off. Boston Dynamics says the reason for the hybrid design is the...

After generations of his family spent their lives as outlaws for making the infamous Irish poitín, Pádraic Ó Griallais has finally been able to carry out the family business in the open just under a decade after the spirit was outlawed. Taking a career break from his job as a high school teacher to establish a new business based on his old family recipe, Ó Griallais is free to produce and sell the highly alcoholic spirit as he pleases without the interference of the Gardaí [Irish police], who hounded the previous poitín distillers in his family with raids to put...

Pluto isn't quite as lonely as scientists had thought. Astronomers have discovered another dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt, the ring of icy objects beyond Neptune. But this newfound world, dubbed 2015 RR245, is much more distant than Pluto, orbiting the sun once every 700 Earth years, scientists said. (Pluto completes one lap around the sun every 248 Earth years.) "The icy worlds beyond Neptune trace how the giant planets formed and then moved out from the sun," discovery team member Michele Bannister, of the University of Victoria in British Columbia, said in a statement. "They let us piece together...

Raqqa, Syria Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS, announced today that he would be disbanding all forces and returning all land to Syria and Iraq. The move was prompted by the ongoing Climate Conference in Paris. "This is one thing we could not have anticipated," Mr. al-Baghdadi said in prepared remarks. "When we see the world coming together like this on such a dangerous subject as Global Climate Change, we realize that our Caliphate will never survive. It's only a matter of time before Climate Change is no...

The time has come to take action against thread hijackers. Let me begin with an example of thread hijacking: Like most Freepers, I am pro-life. Abortion and and euthanasia appall me, and marketing the results even more so. I support candidates who oppose the culture of death, and cheer when it is thwarted. I also do not find it necessary to mention these facts on EVERY. FREAKING. THREAD. There is a certain type of Freeper, though, who has no such restraint. For these zealots, any thread that deviates from the pro-life cause, no matter how trivially, is a heresy that...

The cause of an early morning fire north of San Diego was an electrocuted bird falling from an active power lineA bird carrying a snake in its talons struck power lines north of San Diego, sparking a hillside fire just west of The Merge. San Diego Police arrived to the location on Dunhill Street near the intersection of Interstates 5 and 805 just before 6 a.m. Flames were burning very close to businesses including the General Atomics building, officials said. Officers called in San Diego Fire-Rescue crews who contained the fire within an hour. Fire officials initially told NBC 7...

An accountant at a New York ad firm leaped to his death because he was hallucinating that the mannequins at his Manhattan office were chasing him, it was claimed today. David Caquais, 43, opened at window at Catch NY on the fourth floor of a building in Manhattan's Garment District and jumped out about 9pm on January 2. The New York Post reports that Mr Caquais screamed 'They're after me! They're after me!' as he ran around his office and attempted to kick out windows.

All over the internet recently, sciFy vs. reality and a Mars satellite for petty cash: That breaks the monopoly. Faced with the spectre of other nations publishing uncensored Mars images, NASA and JPL have started publishing some much more obvious images than they have in the past including a totally uncensored video (JPL) showing large-scale structure. A few items... JPL uncensored video showing large-scale structure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=W7-4nSye4lM Raw JPL video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka08deWohpQ Electrical device of some sort with helical coil wound around it Device is on the left, about a third of the way down on the image Gear of some sort....

Nome is used to rowdy residents, but some relatively new transplants are making a real nuisance of themselves -- although unlike the colorful characters of the early 20th century gold rush days, these visitors have four legs, not two. Musk oxen are wandering into the city on the Seward Peninsula, and despite loud noises, water hoses and even a blow-up bear coated in ursine urine, they don't want to leave.

<p>One of the oldest distilleries in the country is warning of what some observers are calling a “whiskey apocalypse.”</p>
<p>“Despite the increase in distillation over the past few years,” says Buffalo Trace, “bourbon demand still outpaces supply.”</p>
<p>The apocalypse is looming, explains Esquire, because whiskey has become trendy overnight.</p>

America's kids have been suspended for pretending that pencils were guns, but an Ohio school may have topped that. A 10-year-old student at a Columbus elementary school was handed a three-day suspension for making a finger gun and pretending to shoot a classmate. The suspension letter more formally referred to his weapon as a "level 2 lookalike firearm," reports the Columbus Dispatch. Devonshire Alternative Elementary School's principal says students have been frequently told not to play pretend gun games, with a district rep saying kids were warned consequences would follow. Those consequences hit hard last week for fifth-grader Nathan Entingh,...

In his press conference on December 20th, President Obama urged the House of Representatives to support the Senate’s immigration bill, which passed 68-32 in late June. Among the concerns cited by Americans who oppose reform are that immigrants will take their jobs, drive down wages, increase criminal activity, burden the welfare system, and reshape the cultural dynamic of the country. These concerns are mostly ill-founded. The legitimate concerns have real solutions, and a more open immigration policy will be a net benefit for all Americans... Highlights from Article: - A 2013 study by the American Action Forum states that "immigration...

<p>Anyone who opposes the Affordable Care Act is a subhuman. It is a great law but lying republicans are trying to destroy it. I signed up with no problem on the website. Republicans want to repeal my new insurance. Obama is a hero!</p>

I know this sounds hysterical to post about a seemingly tin foil conspiracy development but I am prepared to risk some credibility and get it out there so that we can say we weren't completely surprised. First, 120 embassies have been shut down. The rationale is presumably because AQ is planning an attack. Fine, go with that but that's not the real reason I am hearing from credible sources. I'll say in my own defense that I was told by another source last October, a substantial source who nevertheless did not have 100% of my trust, that Israel would attack...

Twitter is running rampant with #NSACalledToTellMe tweets Here are some examples: #NSACalledToTellMe they need to use my bathroom -- the van's portapotty has exceeded its limit #NSACalledToTellMe Kudos on eating a salad with no dressing instead of The Blue Bell Rocky Road Icecream in my freezer. #NSACalledToTellMe they're not the NSA, don't know anything and would I please do the damn dishes. #nsacalledtotellme that my spare set of car keys fell in between the couch cushions! #NSACalledToTellMe to press 1 if my wiretapping experience was agreeable. If not, please notify next-of-kin of impending absence. #NSACalledToTellMe their data center is totally...

I just spent alot of time posting!I see that, looks like you hit a small bump.Pictured: Small BumpWhat happened?Well, someone set up us the bomb?I'm serious!Oh, well.. looks like your post got pulled. Augh! I spent alot of effort on that! How did it happen?!Couldn't be because you were doing it wrong?What the, how'd you get that video of m-- uh.. I don't even wear that!Right Skippy. *cough* Well, since you asked, here's how posts get removed. First, if it is against TOS it gets seen.Then it gets marked.Okay, I have that much.Then the mods gather:Pictured, mods gathering.I don't think...